VMware releases open source desktop client

Just this morning, VMware announced that it will be opening the
source code for the VMware View Client to anyone that wants it. The
move is targeted to allow partners to more easily share advances in
hosted desktop clients based on the most pervasive hosted desktop
system out there – VMware View. The client is licensed under LGPL v
2.1. Some details from the press release:

VMware View Open Client is available under the GNU
Lesser General Public License version 2.1 (LGPL v 2.1) and is
accessible from http://code.google.com/p/vmware-view-open-client/.
Some of the features included in this release support secure tunneling
using SSL, two factor authentication with RSA SecurID, Novell SLETC
Add-On RPM package and a full command line interface. Support for the
source code distribution is available through the VMware View Open
Client community at: http://code.google.com/p/vmware-view-open-client/.

This is an incredible leadership move by VMware to give a kickstart
to the true universal client. Just judging by the numerous joint quotes
from partners in the press release everyone is really excited about
this. Now partners can freely develop on and embed the client into all
sorts of devices from cell phones to set top boxes to PCs and laptops.
It will be interesting to see how much development takes off in this
exciting space. But enough about my excitement. What do you think?

The new View Open Client includes all the major
components needed for someone to take the software, adapt it to their
needs and package up a rich, customized solution.This should really assist all the players in the eco-system to reduce their time to market on solutions.I’m hoping this results in some new and innovative ways to deliver virtual desktops!

Another great use case that I hope we soon see
more of are commercially supported (by the vendor and VMware), turn-key
solution for turning your fat PC into a dumb, highly managed “thin
client’.There are some solutions out there today, but I
would think that this new View Open Client would allow someone to put
together a package to do this easily with out-of-the-box View
integration.The great part is, that a solution someone in
the eco-system puts together using the View Open Client can be
submitted to VMware for formal certification and support!

The way I see it, View is essentially a remote desktop virtualization
technology and with the open client any OS user can take the code to
create, modify and/or customize the end desktop experience. …

As opposed to just saying the project is open source, VMware is also going a step further and hosting the project over at Google Code , which shows a high degree of transparency. VMware isn't hiding much with this release. It build on the fact that the VMware View Manager itself is available under an open source license as well.[Note that while View Manager uses a number of open source technologies, it isn't an open source product itself. --john]

There
was a time when I personally thought of VMware as a proprietary vendor
and XenSource (now Citrix) as the open source one. That's no longer
entirely accurate though is it?